Guest reviews must go, says miffed owner

Since adding reviews to our site at www.noxrentals.co.za we have seen conversion levels increase markedly. There are the odd negative reviews, but I think that seeing real people's comments give guests a lot more confidence than the usual marketing schpeel about "exquisite views" and "ultimate luxury".

Do you mean marketing spiel, perhaps?

Are we allowed to know who wrote this article, or is it anonymous? The writer is clearly a member of "Lay My Hat", as s/he voted in the poll.

Maybe we should stop reviews because there are many spam reviews too..who can trust a review these days?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/8826258.stm

I asked yesterday if we are allowed to know who the author of this article is. Will we get an answer?

I think that it's only right to want to research the place where you are going to stay. I use reviews all the time, and I am intelligent enough to make an informed decision based on all reviews about a property. What you have to remember is that there will always be someone who is never happy with where they stayed, and they will want to write about it, but for every inaccurate review, there will be an honest and accurate one. I think we need to trust that holidaymakers are intelligent enough to decide for themselves what they should believe. So if your property in great and you have nothing to hide, don't stress about reviews! If I can't find a review for somewhere I want to stay, I won't book it!

Does the identity of the author matter in the slightest? I think not! The important thing is what is being said.

Does the identity of an owner matter? Apparently not! Neither LPC's profile on LMH nor his/her website includes a name, an address or a telephone number.

It's obvious that some LMH owners only approve of positive reviews and want to keep quiet about any others. LPC's website includes only 5 reviews, all phrased in glowing terms. I wonder; does that mean that he/she has only ever received 5 reviews or does it mean that the others have been suppressed?

I don't think any reasonable owner objects to reasonable and fair reviews. As for the idea that an owner can suppress reviews on TA, don't make me laugh. I've had enough of my precious time wasted (successfully, in the end) getting fake reviews removed to know that TA couldn't give a rat's spit for any owner with less than rock solid proof of a fake review and willing to kick up a stink.

My own opinion is that what owners mainly object to are unreasonable reviews from people who expect a 5 star hotel when they've booked the cheapest hostel in Bangkok.

The biggest fault is the fake and malicious ratings which pepper these anonymous review sites. Is your competitor up the road looking to good on TripAdvisor? Easy - get a few mates to post damning reviews. Or same thing in reverse - get them to post glowing reviews of your place.

Everybody knows these sites are popular, so savvy owners try to turn them to their advantage by fair means - like encouraging people who've had a good experience to post - or by foul.

Corny catchphrases like "get the truth then go" make me LMAO.

TA may work for mega-hotels with hundreds of reviews, but for anywhere with a handful of reviews I would not waste my time.

Phil

It is clear that the author of the article does not want to reveal him/herself!

Regarding our reviews, if TMH had looked at our website carefully, s/he would have seen that they have "independently obtained". In fact they have been obtained via Rental Systems. We have no control over the content; we only have the right to reply - which some other review sites do not allow. We are very happy with the RS method of reviews.

The issue with some other owners (not ourselves) concerns sites which do not give owners the right to reply. Thus if a false review is posted, there is no means of rebutting it except by requesting its removal, something which some owners have found extremely difficult to get done. Indeed, Trip Advisor is currently being sued about an unfair review.

If LMH is that interested, s/he can find us on Rental Systems and look at all the reviews. We have had more - recently another five star - but we don't have space to put them all in. As for our address, that can be found via the electronic map on our site (a link to Rental Systems map). We have nothing to hide - but the author of this article is apparently staying silent! The reason why I wanted to know the author's identity is because s/he has written the criticisms here, but not on "Lay My Hat", despite being a member. Why here and not there? People who criticise others whould have the courage to say who they are. This discussion should not be about us. We didn't write any article. We just asked who the author was. I think LMH is trying to distract attention away from the author of this article!!

Apologies to LMH; I meant TMH. Similar initials.

I agree. It’s more than disappointing that the author has remained silent although Paolo de Paulis appears to have identified him on the LMH forum.

I’m not trying to divert attention away from anything. The subject matter is guest reviews not the author’s apparent anonymity.

In my opinion reviews are worthless. It’s all too easy for third parties to post false malicious reviews and for the compensation seekers to post false critical reviews. It’s equally all too easy for owners to post false favourable reviews and it’s all too obvious that most owners carefully weed out and only post the best.

My observations were about your personal website and I think they remain valid. No name, no address and no telephone number and five very carefully selected reviews.

I like the Homelidays website system whereby the stay is validated before the guest arrives.

Perhaps TA could do similar - like if the guest asks the owner for some sort of validation code (this could be done in advance by the guest). That way they can remain anonymous but the stay would be validated by all concerned.

If it worked, and was actively promoted by TA, it might go a long way towards stopping owners complaining of fake reviews, and even save TA work checking and investigating many of their reviews as they currently claim do.

TA could even continue with elements of the current system but have 2 categories of review, relating to validated and unvalidated stays.

Phil